I'm an AR M1A guy and a friend of mine ask me about a an R1A1 that he found at a local gun dealer. He said it was made by Century arms and the fit and finish was really good with plastic furniture on it. Selling price was around $750. I'm somwhat familiar with the FNFAL, STG 58 and L1A1 but have never heard of an R1A1. Any information would be appreciated, such as is it any good and is it metric or inch pattern.

R1A1 is a marketing name made up by Century Arms. R1A1 is really meaningless because Century put this designation on all of the F A L type rifles that they assembled and on the stripped receivers that they sold. Century also built metric and inch rifles on these receivers as well as rifles built with both types of parts.

$750 is too much money for any rifle built on a Century receiver. Simply because for the same money, one can buy a rifle built by DS Arms that comes with a warranty.

I've got one. It definitely has some use. I would guess a new one is probably only worth about $500. Also, some of them have problems due to poor quality control. Some work well (like mine), some don't.

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